Internal-combustion turbine power plant



A. R. HOWELL INTERNAL-COMBUSTION TURBINE POWER PLANT Feb. 6, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 31, 1945 g InvcnIor w MM Horn ey;

Feb. 6, 1951 A. R. HOWELL INTERNAL-COMBUSTION TURBINE POWER PLANT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1945 B lnvenl or Patented retie, 1951" j i msBH L-C Aiiin Raymond neweu. ntitu susuua. minte- Power Jet's and Development) Ltd.,-London, England". British company Application January u 1045, Serial No. 515,535 I IllGmt stimulantaria sol mn. (moo-41) inveutieu relates te internal combustion lturbine power plants operating on the constant.

pressure cycle with continuous flow, and having a compressordischarging into combustion chamber means, into which fuel isinjected and burnt at' constant pressure, and a turbinein which the products of combustion are expanded to a lower pressure, the compressor being driven' by the turbine, and in which the turbine and com-.

pr'essor are of the axial flow type.

More especially the invention contemplates the installation of power plants, of the kind first herein referred to, as aircraft prime movers, wherein the turbine exhaust is utilised by means of jet reaction nozzles to produce thrust.

v An object of theinvention is the provision of a' power plant of the kind herein referred to.

How the foregoing objects and others as will hereinafter appear are attained and in what stage axial flow compressor.

of the cone 22 and leading nozzle (not shown).

. The ring members 2, r defining the air entry are structurallyconnecte'd by int'egralwebs l0, i which also serve as entry'guidevanes to the com-- pressor duct.

The compressor stator casing 3 carries 'in- I wardly projecting stator blades 4 interdigitating i with rotor blades 6. mounted on the periphery of the drum 5, and together constituting a multi- The elbows 8 and 8 of the duct 1 are provided with curved vanes III, II, respectively, serving to guide the air flow round the elbows and eliminate turbulence. Y

Within the combustion chamber 12, is situated a fuel injection nozzle l3, and a flame .tube H,

open at its upstream end l5, for admission of primary air. to the fuel nozzle and defining a space between itself and the a wall of the combustion chamber l2, along which secondary air passes.

The turbine stator I1 is provided with two rows 1 of inwardly projecting turbine stator blades u and the turbine wheel I9 is provided with two rows ofturbine rotor blades 20,-thus providing two turbine stages.

.mannerthe invention may be performed will be understood from the following description given by way of example and having reference to the accompanying drawings of an embodiment of the I invention. the scope of which'is defined in their i'iended claims. z

In the accompanying drawings, Fig 1 shows.

(partly diagrammatically) in half axial section an internal combustion turbine unit intended for installation in an aircraft as a jet propulsion motor, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line H- -II of Fig. 1.

Referring to these drawings, the flow duct for the working fluid is defined by an air intake 1 leading to an annular entry space defined by an inner and outer ring members 2, 2a, an annular compressor duct defined by a stator casing 3 and rotor drum 5, a duct 1 having two elbows at 8 and s bringing about a. 180 reversal of fiow, an annular arrangement of circumferentially-spaced chambers such as are shown in Figure 1 or an annular combustion chamber, a duct I6 leading to a turbine duct defined by a turbine stator casing l1 and the rim of a turbine wheel 18, and an annular duct 2| defined by an outer fairing 23 a and an inner cone-shaped fairing 22, and delivering into a jet pipe 24, situated beyond the apex Thecompressor rotor drum 5 issecured at one end to a diaphragm 25, which is integral with a shaft 28, and at the other end to a conical member 38 secured to a sleeve 3|, co-axial with the shaft 26. The latter is supportedby bearings 2l,in'a housing 28, connected by means of a webbed diaphragm '28 with the casing member I enclosingthe double elbow duct.

The turbine wheel 18 is formed integrally with a shaft 33 and the sleeve 3l-is driven by turbine shaft 33 through a splined coupling 32 and is supported by a bearing 34 in a housing 35, connected to the entry ring member 2 by an integrally formed conical 'web 36 and to a ring member 38 by means of a diaphragm 31, which is corrugated to accommodate expansion effects. The last named member 38, together "with the turbine stator casing l'l defines the entry annulus of the turbine, and the, inner ends of the first stage of turbine stator blading l8 are secured to or located by the ring 38.

The cone fairing 22 is supported from the outer fairing 23 by means of radial webs 38 which serve also as flow straighteners for the turbine eiliux passing along the annular duct 2|.

An arrow indicates the direction of flight when the unit is installed in an aircraft as a jet propulsicn motor. It will be seen that in this arrange- 11283115 the combustion chamber or chambers are to a jet reaction:-

mits of considerable overall shortening of the axial length of the unit and of general compactness, which is favourable for installation as an aircraft power plant. V

In the example illustrated the turbine is coupled solely to the" compressor and absorbs from the expanding gases only so much power as is required to drive the compressor, and the whole available residual power of the gases after passing the turbine is employed in creating thrust by,

means of a reaction :let nomle. The turbine may, however, be also coupled to an external load of any suitable character, or may be applied for purposes other than aircraft propulsion, without departing from the concept of the invention.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

, of flight) so that the flow through the compressor is in the intended direction of flight, annularly disposed ducting leading through a turn of approximately 180 in a plane including the axis of the unit from the discharge (front) end of the compressor to the inlet (front) end of the turbine, said ducting including heating means for the working fluid and annularly surrounding the body and inlet endof the compressor and forming in the region of said inlet end circumferentially spaced gas passages to said turbine, the spaces between said gas passages being utilized for air entry to said inlet, whereby there is intersection of flow paths of air entering the compressor and gas entering the turbine.

2. An internal combustion turbine power plant comprising an axial flow multistage, compressor, an axial flow turbine coaxial with and directly coupled to drive said compressor, said compressor and turbine being provided with inlets at their adjacent ends and outlets at their remote ends so that the flows therethrough are in opposite directions, annularly disposed air duct means leading from said remote outlet end of the compressor through a radially outward turn of sub- 4 stantially 180 in a plane including the axis, annularly disposed combustion chamber means coaxially surrounding said compressor, and annularly disposed gas ducting means connecting said combustion chamber means to the inlet of said turbine for flow through the turbine in a direction away from the compressor, said gas ducting means annularly surrounding the inlet end of said compressor and forming in the region ofsaid inlet end circumferentially spaced gas passages to said turbine, the spaces between said gas passages being utilized for air entry to said inlet, whereby there is intersection of flow paths of air entering the compressor and gas entering the turbine.

3. An internal combustion turbine power plant comprising an axial flow multistage compressor,

7 a turbine coaxial with said compressor axially spaced from the entry end thereof, said compressor and turbinebeing provided with inlets at their adjacent ends and outlets at their remote ends so that the flows therethrough are in opposite directions, coupling means to transmit rotational drive directly from said turbine to said compressor, annularly disposed ducting containing combustion means and coaxially surrounding said compressor, said ducting having connections to receive air from the outlet end of said compressor and to deliver gaseous combustion products into said turbine in an axial direction opposed to that of the airflow through the compressor, of which connections that leading tothe turbine annularly surrounds the inlet end of said compressor and forms in the region of said inlet end circumferentially spaced gas passages to said turbine, the spaces between said gas passages being utilized for air entry to said inlet, whereby there is intersection of flow paths of air entering the compressor. and gas entering the turbine.

ALUN RAYMOND HOWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,050,349 Lysholm et al. Aug. 11, 1930 2,080,425 Lysholm May 18, 1937 2,085,761 Lysholm July 6, 1937 2,256,198 Hahn Sept. 16, 1941 2,326,072 Seippel Aug. 3, 1943 2,409,177 Allen Oct. 15, 1940 2,430,399 Heppner Nov. 4, 1947 2,469,439 Lundquist May 10, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 796,274 France Jan. 22, 1936 210,658

Switzerland Oct. 1, 1940 

